How much does warm air central heating cost?
Although it was hugely popular in the 1970s and 1980s, warm air central heating has fallen out of favour in recent years. There are lots of advantages to this sort of domestic heating – for a start it warms your rooms quickly, and as you don’t need radiators, it takes up less space in a smaller home. If you are thinking of replacing an existing warm air heating system with something a bit more up to date or putting in a brand new system, keep reading to find out just how much it all might cost.
What’s involved with a warm air heating installation?
One of the main benefits of a warm air heating system is that it is so quick to install when compared with other types of heating. The boilers to heat the air are around the same size as any other boiler, and no more expensive. Unlike a “wet” system with radiator, all you’ll need to heat your rooms is a system of pipes and vents, all of which are hidden under the floorboards and around the bottom of the walls. Often, it takes a skilled installer just one day to install a full hot air central heating system in your home, so having the work done is a lot less disruptive than putting in other sorts of heating.
Buying a boiler for a warm air heating system
It’s difficult to given even a rough guide of the price you can expect to pay for your boiler as there are so many different factors which will affect the price. The main factor is the power of boiler required, which will be determined by the number of rooms you need to heat. It’s best to get advice from a professional about this, and as people working in the trade often get a better deal on boilers, you might find it’s more economical to ask them to purchase it for you and invoice you along with installation costs. If you are sourcing the boiler yourself, expect to pay anything upwards of £500 for a warm air heating boiler. Remember also that this sort of heating just heats your house and not water, so you’ll have to think of another method of providing you with hot water.
Installation costs for warm air heating
The bulk of any quote for installing warm air central heating will be the costs for the workmen to do the job for you. If you’re using gas to heat your air there is no way around getting the professionals in as only qualified people are allowed to work on gas boilers for safety reasons. You can expect to pay between £2000 to £6000 in labour costs for having this sort of installation. One thing that many homeowners fail to account for when installing a warm air system is the costs of ripping out the existing system and disposing of it – and if you are needing to dispose of a dozen or more radiators and associated pipework this could add to the costs considerably. Ensure that disposal is included on any quotes you ask for.
Running costs for a warm air heating system
If you currently have an older warm air heating system, it’s not unreasonable to expect savings of 25% if you upgrade to a modern unit. As with any other type of heating your exact costs will depend on the size of your property and how long you have your heating switched on for. A good heating engineer will be able to give more accurate estimates.
Warm air heating background
Warm air central heating peaked in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was often the default option for heating in a newly-constructed house. Although warm air heating has been overtaken in the popularity stakes by combi boilers and radiators, there are still many homes fitted with a warm air heating system, or where the homeowners are considering switching to this form of heating.
How does warm air heating work?
Also sometimes known as “blow air” heating, warm air heating works in a very similar way to air conditioning. The air is either warmed or cooled by a large central fan unit, and then the air is blown around the house through vents. The most common arrangement in a warm air heating system is that the air is heated by a gas burner, and it can also be controlled by thermostats in the rooms and can be timed to switch on and off as needed. As no radiators are required and vents can be placed anywhere around a room, this is a good choice of heating method where space on the walls is limited and there’s just no room for radiators. In the past, warm air heating had the reputation of being inefficient and very expensive to run, but modern systems are very easy to control, provide good temperature control and are efficient and simple to install.
Is warm air heating the environmentally friendly choice?
Building Regulations have become increasingly stringent in recent years concerning insulation and airtightness, and better insulated houses mean more efficient warm air heating. It can be difficult to assess how efficient a warm air heating system is, but boilers used to heat the air are rated according to how efficiently they perform. An experienced heating engineer who has installed and maintained these sorts of systems will be able to advise on whether they would be appropriate for your home, what efficiency you could expect and potential running costs. People with allergies may also find warm air heating a better choice as filters can be added to the system to clean the air as it circulates and remove allergens.
Installing a warm air heating system
One of the main advantages of a warm air heating system is that they are so quick and simple to install, with none of the pipework you would associate with a “wet” central heating system. This can make installation much cheaper than other types of heating system, especially when upgrading an older warm air system to a more modern one. Don’t rely on this fact when thinking of installing a warm air heating system at home though, and always make sure you get at least three quotes for the work by trusted local tradespeople.
